Oil left in bottletop filter membrane

[crau85]

All filters waste a little oil, even syringe filters.
But 10 ml waste sounds like too much, maybe the whole filter got clogged?
Yes, please try to retrieve and measure the unfiltered amount.

Yea I thought it seemed excessive. It is likely not a measurement issue unless I did it twice. I already tossed the filters though so there is no recovering the oil.

Corning low retention systems hold 5ml according to their website, others hold over 10ml. I looked it up recently... let me find the video....

That makes sense. If vacuum is constant on the filter it should be able to pull that last bit out of the filter with little loss. I think my issue was vacuum related..

Yeah check your vacuum source . I just ran 6 different compounds with 6 different filters ( Foxx Autofil 0.2um) and I bet I maybe lost 6mls combine ( roughly 1 ml per filter/compound) one was test E with no BB and it took 2 1/2 hours to filter 500 ml's.
I am new to the brewing game . but a few things I was taught from a very well respected Meso homebrew crew .but was taught to let oil sit on top of filter for at least 5 min so it saturates the filter membrane (made a big difference in filtering) Mainly to keep from tearing filter .
But I also use a 6cfm vacuum pump and use a set of Manifold (A/C )gauges modified and connected and pressure relief valve because it is a bigger pump . but honestly it pulls 22 lbs of vacuum and haven't had to use the relief valve . it works flawless !

I think it was a vacuum related issue. I was using a hand pump that I had to pump up repeatedly while filtering 200ml. I was also brewing smaller batches while filter the larger ones, so it would lose vacuum completely for short periods of time. I think what happened was it lost vacuum completely, but when I tried pumping it to get the last bit it didnt have any oil left in the reservoir and couldnt build vacuum again. I think I'll be grabbing a 3.5cfm vacuum pump on amazon so I can avoid this happening again.

How many milliliters do you all typically run through your bottle top filter? I got 400 ml EQ through before it slowed to a drip. The last 50ml, the 400-450ml part took over an hour.

It took around 30 minutes to filter 200 ml, these were 500ml capacity caps.

 

[ickyrica]

OSHA governs how much medium can be passed through a filter membrane. These devices are going to be under OSHA jurisdiction because they deal with life safety. The assumption is that all medium being filtered will be for human use. Any other assumption would leave all parties, manufacturer and governing, open to legal ramifications if something was to go horribly wrong.

There are going to be federal requirements/limitations on what a manufacturer can claim as opposed to what the product can actually do. This is called a safety factor. I deal with it all the time. Different safety factors are needed for different circumstances. When hoisting and rigging I have to advise by a 5X1 safety factor; meaning when I hoist a speaker cluster weighing 1200# my rigging to the superstructure needs to support 6000# at a minimum. I also need a secondary form of support per state law, generally being nicro pressed air craft cable that is rated the same as the original mounting solution.

Which these filters I will guarantee you they have at a minimum of a 3X1 safety factor. Realistically it could be as high as a 7X1 being a medical device. You can do the math on that. You will not have any issues with your filter if you used it to clean the specified amount of oil.

I will do some digging for an exact safety factor for these.

@Dr JIM
@Michael Scally MD

Would either of you two have any insight into what the safety factor would be on media filters?

 

[master.on]

OSHA governs how much medium can be passed through a filter membrane. These devices are going to be under OSHA jurisdiction because they deal with life safety. The assumption is that all medium being filtered will be for human use. Any other assumption would leave all parties, manufacturer and governing, open to legal ramifications if something was to go horribly wrong.

There are going to be federal requirements/limitations on what a manufacturer can claim as opposed to what the product can actually do. This is called a safety factor. I deal with it all the time. Different safety factors are needed for different circumstances. When hoisting and rigging I have to advise by a 5X1 safety factor; meaning when I hoist a speaker cluster weighing 1200# my rigging to the superstructure needs to support 6000# at a minimum. I also need a secondary form of support per state law, generally being nicro pressed air craft cable that is rated the same as the original mounting solution.

Which these filters I will guarantee you they have at a minimum of a 3X1 safety factor. Realistically it could be as high as a 7X1 being a medical device. You can do the math on that. You will not have any issues with your filter if you used it to clean the specified amount of oil.

I will do some digging for an exact safety factor for these.

@Dr JIM
@Michael Scally MD

Would either of you two have any insight into what the safety factor would be on media filters?

I don't think they work that way.

1 A good filter should clog before allowing debris/bacteria to pass trough (provided there's no excessive pressure or vacuum)

2 filters are designed for so many different applications, some with minimal, others with lots of particulate matter to filter so it becomes impossible to issue a one-fits-all 'best discarded after X ml'

So, drip slowing down as the filter begins to clog should be an early warning not to be ignored.

 

[Mechanics]

What size brand and filter membrane are you using? Also are you using eo? Foxx autofil has 500ml bottletop, I use to run 500ml. Later I swapped to a buchner filter and since the filter membranes were so cheap I would run 200-300ml then change the filter membrane.

OK so I finally got a answer with 100% proof .
OK so if the filter is a 250ml Foxx autofil filter . that means it is capable of filtering 250ml
And if you but a 500ml foxx autofil it is capable of filtering 500ml .

And so I got some 500ml filters and compared the two . and the filter membrane is noticeable different in size .

So what I take from this is if your filter say 250ml and you filter 300 ml your taking a big risk of having unsterile oil .

Glad I checked into this .

 

[Rockclimber]

Man, my 1000ml filter only did 400ml comfortably. I guess I need to buy a half dozen at a time.

 

[ickyrica]

Man, my 1000ml filter only did 400ml comfortably. I guess I need to buy a half dozen at a time.

What are you using as a carrier?

 

[Rockclimber]

What are you using as a carrier?

Grapeseed oil

 

[ickyrica]

I've been mct for a while, I don't seem to get that issue. I did use gso when I started out, I remember that being waaay slower.

Grapeseed oil

 

[crau85]

I was thinking about switching to MCT for the same reason. It sounds like filtering is a breeze with it, while GSO is a slow process. Especially with a syringe filter.

 

[master.on]

I was thinking about switching to MCT for the same reason. It sounds like filtering is a breeze with it, while GSO is a slow process. Especially with a syringe filter.

Did you warm the oil (I must have missed that part)?
Otherwise everything is going to be painfully slow if filtered at room temperature.
Don't get oil too hot either.

 

[crau85]

Did you warm the oil (I must have missed that part)?
Otherwise everything is going to be painfully slow if filtered at room temperature.
Don't get oil too hot either.

Yep it was warm. Slow is 30 minutes for 200ml in a bottletop, but some smaller 50ml brews took almost 30 minutes through a syringe filter with caulking gun. It pulls through a 23g fine and pins quick enough for me. Its incredible how PIP free the homebrew is.. GSO and 2/18%.